The subject invention relates to a connector design having a mating assist member to assist in the mating and unmating of two hand mate capable electrical connector halves.
In several different applications or industries, particularly in the automotive industry, electrical connector designs are standardized on various different harnesses or on various different discrete ends of a particular harness.
Just by way of example, it is common to provide as part of a wiring harness, wiring which extends into the automobile body, for example, and be connected to a mating connector at or under the driver's seat. Such connections can be used for the power seat having multiple ways of adjustment including up, back, tilt, and lumbar, as well as providing the opportunity for multiple variances of seat heating. In such an example, it would be common to provide multiple sizes of terminals depending on the power or amperage that needs to run through the cable, and thus the connectors need to accommodate multiple sizes of terminals as well.
It is also common in the industry to have standardized maximum mating forces which are allowable for the assembly line in automobile plants. One such standard, known as USCAR, has designated 75 Newtons as a maximum mating force. USCAR is an umbrella organization made up of automotive manufacturers for joint research. This is the maximum force that can be designed into a connector assembly, where the two connectors are mated into a latched condition by hand including no assistance in the connection. Above the 75-Newton requirement, some type of mating assistance between the two connectors is required.
It is well known in the industry to provide for a mating assist member, sometimes in the form of a pivotal lever, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,484 incorporated herein by reference. The lever can rotate to cause cooperable teeth on the mating housings to engage and bring the housings together. It is also a requirement to have a latching structure which can retain the two housings together. This can cause difficulties where a latch must be disengaged while at the same time, a lever needs to be rotated, as two hands are normally required, and the two functions may conflict with each other ergonomically.
The object then of the present invention is to provide a connector design which can accommodate all of the above-mentioned requirements.